Imagine if you will, 44,000 Scouts forming one of the largest cities in Virginia, trading well over 2 million patches, setting up 22,000 pup tents, all working and playing together in the name of good scouting. That's what will happen when Boy Scouts of America National Jamboree starts this week.

The National Jamboree is a festival at which Scouts from all across America gather to celebrate the brotherhood of Scouting. It is an event that is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for Boy Scouts as it only happens every four years. This year's Jamboree will be even more special as it occurs on the 100th anniversary of Scouting. So, suffice to say that I am hyped for Jamboree.

At the Jamboree, famous former Scouts all swing by to meet the future of the country and share their experiences. Organizations that use Scout-based skills such as the Army, Coast Guard and the Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration all set up exhibits to interest scouts to join later as adults. There are shooting sports, aquatics activities, and Scout skills competitions as well as arena shows that include a talent show and speeches from important Americans. All these activities and more make the Jamboree really awesome.

Although Jamboree is a very fun and important experience for Scouts, it isn't always easy to be able to go. Not only are there requirements to be First Class or above, but it requires a time commitment of TEN DAYS of summer vacation. This week I lose my rights to pop tarts, sleeping late, watching TV, air conditioning, driving and sitting. I know that during the course of this week I will hear campfire songs and I will wish that I was at UNC High School Music Camp where the songs are on key and I can understand the lyrics.

On those nights where the rain just won't stop falling, I will remember when I was at home and I didn't have to walk three miles to go to the bathroom.

So why do I go, you ask? I go because this is a place for me to meet people from all across the United States, because I can rappel climbing towers, because I can be taught merit badges by top specialists in their fields, and because I know that despite all of the obstacles, it is going to be amazing fun.

Nate FitzSimons is a Life Scout of Troop 39 in Chapel Hill and Jamboree Troop 1721. He is attending the BSA National Jamboree in Fort AP Hill this week. Everything he says is true and only slightly exaggerated.

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE

Watch The Chapel Hill Herald the rest of the week for more live accounts provided by Nate FitzSimons from the Boy Scouts of America National Jamboree.